Page 379 - gullivers-travels

sand of them breaking into the midst of an European army,
confounding the ranks, overturning the carriages, batter-
ing the warriors’ faces into mummy by terrible yerks from
their hinder hoofs; for they would well deserve the character
given to Augustus, Recalcitrat undique tutus. But, instead
of proposals for conquering that magnanimous nation, I
rather wish they were in a capacity, or disposition, to send a
sufficient number of their inhabitants for civilizing Europe,
by teaching us the first principles of honour, justice, truth,
temperance, public spirit, fortitude, chastity, friendship, be-
nevolence, and fidelity. The names of all which virtues are
still retained among us in most languages, and are to be met
with in modern, as well as ancient authors; which I am able
to assert from my own small reading.
But I had another reason, which made me less forward
to enlarge his majesty’s dominions by my discoveries. To
say the truth, I had conceived a few scruples with relation
to the distributive justice of princes upon those occasions.
For instance, a crew of pirates are driven by a storm they
know not whither; at length a boy discovers land from the
topmast; they go on shore to rob and plunder, they see a
harmless people, are entertained with kindness; they give
the country a new name; they take formal possession of it
for their king; they set up a rotten plank, or a stone, for a
memorial; they murder two or three dozen of the natives,
bring away a couple more, by force, for a sample; return
home, and get their pardon. Here commences a new do-
minion acquired with a title by divine right. Ships are sent
with the first opportunity; the natives driven out or de-

Gulliver’s Travels